PACC Responds to the Severndale Specialist Academy Ofsted Report

10/09/2020

As you will be aware Severndale Specialist Academy had an Ofsted Inspection on Friday 10^th of July 2020. This inspection was a section 8 inspection, meaning it was not a full school inspection which impacts on the rating of the school, but is a focused inspection looking at a specific area of school’s activities and processes. A full school inspection will be triggered when inspection regimes resume in the spring term (January 2021).

At the time of the Inspection we actively encouraged families to share their views and experiences of the school with the inspection team through the parent view survey. We were pleased to see that many parent carers were reporting they had engaged with the feedback opportunity offered and had shared their views about their child’s support, development opportunities, and general experiences of school life.

Today the Inspection Report has been published. As a result of the inspection, the decision has been made for Severndale to become part of a larger Multi-Academy Trust to address the operational and leadership issues identified.

Whilst the report makes for difficult reading at times, and the outcome may not be what many would have expected or wanted to read, it is clear that changes need to be made to improve the experience of the children and young people who attend Severndale Specialist Academy. Inspectors heard and took on board feedback from families, which can be seen in their report; and also saw for themselves the issues of concern.

Taking all of this into account, whilst we are sad to read the outcome of the inspection, we are pleased to see there is a commitment to address the issues identified and planning is underway to improve the experience of our most vulnerable children, young people, and their families.

PACC will continue to support the parent carer community at Severndale Specialist Academy, Severndale at Mary Webb, and Severndale Futures with a dedicated Parent Carer group as well as representing their experiences and concerns with health, education, and social care partners within Shropshire. We have already started conversations with Severndale leadership and the Local Authority to support the process of Severndale Specialist Academy now responding to the inspection report and moving forwards working in coproduction with the parent carer community.

We anticipate opportunities for families to inform and influence the development of any future partnership and will, as always, support and empower parent carers to be as actively involved in this process as they wish to be. In the meantime, we understand that some families may be worried about what the inspection report means for their child/young person. We urge families to see this as an opportunity for our specialist school to become a place where our children and young people can thrive.  While there will inevitably be a period of unrest and change ahead, children, young people, and their families must still have their needs met, feel supported, and be valued as partners in their own/child/young person’s care.

Shropshire Council have also responded to the report, which you can read in full here.

If anyone has any concerns they wish to bring to our attention, please contact us via our Facebook page or email enquiries@paccshropshire.org.uk. You can also contact the SEN team https://shropshire.gov.uk/the-send-local-offer/education/education-services/the-sen-team/ if you have any queries regarding meeting the needs of your child. For any other concerns relating to the school directly we encourage parents to contact the appropriate school representative http://www.severndaleschool.org/get-in-touch/